1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a service provision system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system for providing a service such as automatically photographing a single visitor or a group of visitors to an entertainment facility such as a theme park or an amusement park.
2. Description of the Related Art
Systems for providing a group-oriented service by registering a group of customers are known.
For example, a system for providing a comfortable environment to customers has been known in an entertainment facility, such as a theme park, by providing information in accordance with activities of the customers and by supporting use of the facility (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,783, for example). In this system, a group of customers is registered with IC cards or the like, and each of the customers having the IC card understands activities of the other customers in the group, and exchanges messages with the other customers by using a terminal installed in the theme park.
Furthermore, in a sightseeing spot such as an amusement park and a theme park, a service has been carried out for selling a print of an image of a visitor photographed during an attraction. In order to efficiently carry out such a service, the following system has been proposed (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,628,899).
In this system, a communication device storing ID information (personal identification information) of a customer is firstly provided to the customer. Thereafter, each time the customer having the communication device visits an attraction or a predetermined photography spot in a sightseeing spot, a camera installed in the attraction or the photography spot automatically photographs the customer, and obtains the ID information from the communication device of the customer. Image data obtained through photography are sent to a server by being related to the ID information of the customer, and the server stores the image data and the ID information. When an order is placed via an order terminal installed in the sightseeing spot, the server searches for the image data of the customer, based on the ID information thereof. The server then prints the image data and provides a print to the customer. Alternatively, the server records the image data in a recording medium or the like to be provided to the customer. In this manner, the customer can collectively order any images among images photographed in the sightseeing spot by using the order terminal, which enables provision of a more convenient service. Furthermore, in this system, if a part of the personal identification information is used commonly among a group, not only an image of the single customer but also an image of the other customers belonging to the same group as the customer can be searched for, by using the identification information that is used commonly among the group.
In the inventions described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,189,783 and 6,658,899, a plurality of customers are simply grouped. However, in reality, the form of a group is more complex in static and dynamic points of view.
Furthermore, regarding provision of a service to a group, the inventions described above are mere extensions of a service that has been provided conventionally to an individual. Therefore, provision of a group-oriented service has been desired.
For example, in a sightseeing spot such as an amusement park or a theme park, most customers visit in groups and an image of a whole group is desired in most cases upon photography in the sightseeing spot. However, in a conventional automatic photography system such as those described above, photography is carried out through recognition of the communication device provided to each of the customers as a subject. Therefore, in the case of a group as a subject, photography is not necessarily carried out at a preferable timing, and the whole group may not be photographed.
In addition, in the automatic photography system described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,783, only a service provided during one visit to a theme park or the like is considered, and no service to customers as repeaters has been considered.